Pediatric restraining apparatus



0 United States Patent 1 1 3,526,222

[72] inventor Robert E. Dreibelbis 3,358,141 12/1967 Hot'l'munn ct al, 350/511 v'llage Tusun' Cahmm'a Primary ExaminerAdele M. Eager I PP NO. 731,865 Attorney-Harms, Klech, Russell and Kern [22] Filed May 24, 1968 [45] Patented Sept.l,l970

[54] PEDIATRIC RESTRAINING APPARATUS ABSTRACT: A pediatric restraining device for immobilizing children to prevent them from struggling during diagnosis. treatment, and the like. The device comprises a support having torso, head, arm and leg supporting members and having straps for securing the patients arms and legs to the corresponding supporting members on both sides of the patient's elbows and knees, at points spaced from the elbow and knee joints. A torso strap secures the patient's torso to the corresponding supporting member. Strapping the arms and legs on opposite sides of the elbows and knees prevents angulution of these joints, thus reducing the danger of injury, and preventing movement of the patients arms and legs. The end result is a tendency to achieve relaxation of the patient within a relatively few seconds.

Patented Sept. 1, 1970 3,526,222

' lNl/ENTOR. Rosa/er E. Dee/sums '8) IH/S arrow/5Y5. HARE/S, lf/ccfi, PUSSELL 8: KERN PEDIATRIC RESTRAINING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Infants and small children characteristically resist most strenuously attempts at diagnosis or treatment by physicians, or by other medically trained personnel, such as nurses, laboratory technicians, and the like. The combined efforts of several persons are sometimes required to restrain children for such everyday procedures as antibiotic or other injections,

, drawing blood samples, performance of minor surgery requiring no or only local anesthesia, setting fractures, taking X- rays, and the like.

Coping with a struggling child in the foregoing manner is not only frustrating and time consuming, but presents the distinct possibility of injury to the child (or those attempting to restrain him), to say nothing of the possibility of unsuccessful diagnosis or treatment.

In an effort to overcome problems of the foregoing nature, various pediatric restraining devices have been proposed heretofore, but all such devices with which I am familiar are subject to diverse disadvantages. For example, prior devices which do achieve somewhere near the preferred degree of patient immobilization are too complex and difficult to use, and require the efforts of more than one person. Others generally do not achieve adequate immobilization, or attempt to achieve immobilization by restraining the elbow and knee joints directly, with the attendant possibility of injury to these joints.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION With the foregoing background, a primary object of the invention is to provide a simple pediatric restraining apparatus which can be applied to the patient quickly and easily by one person, and which achieves full immobilization, followed by a tendency toward relaxation, with a minimum of risk of injury to the patient.

More particularly, an important object of the invention is to prevent angulation of all body joints, and particularly the elbow and knee joints. The lifting forces which the body is capable of developing when prone are directly proportional to the angles of the various body joints, and the present invention, by preventing joint angulation, reduces to a minimum the lifting forces which can be developed, which is an important feature.

Still more specifically, another important object of the invention is to provide means for restraining the patients arms and legs on opposite sides of the elbows and knees so that bending of these joints is substantially completely prevented to minimize the arm and leg forces which can be developed.

A more detailed object of the invention is to provide a pediatric restraining apparatus which includes:

A support having torso, head, arm and leg supporting members for respectively supporting the torso, head, arms and legs of a pediatric patient;

Means for securing the patients arms to the arm supporting members, respectively, on both sides of the patients elbows at points spaced fromthe elbows; and

Means for securing the patients legs to the leg supporting members, respectively, on both sides of the patients knees at points spaced from the knees.

Another object is to provide such a pediatric restraining apparatuswherein the securing means for each elbow and knee joint comprises two strap means respectively located on opposite sides of and spaced from such joint. A related object is to provide a construction wherein each strap means is connected to the correspondingsupporting member, and is provided with ends adapted to be overlapped and means for securing the overlapped ends together.

Still another object is to provide means for securing the patients torso to the torso supporting member in the vicinity of and below the patients waist.

Yet another object is to provide a pediatric restraining apparatus wherein the support includes a rigid base with padding on the upper side thereof, and wherein the rigid base is provided with carrying handles, connected to the head and leg supporting members, so that the apparatus can be used as a stretcher for transporting the patient.

Another object is to provide leg supporting members interconnected at their pedal extremities to further rigidify the support.

An important feature of the invention is that the complete immobilization achieved by the pediatric restraining device of the invention has a very beneficial psychological effect on the patient. More particularly, after struggling against the restraining straps for a short time, e.g., ten to twenty seconds, the patient tends to realize that continuing to struggle is futile, and in most cases lapses into a state of physical relaxation. This is highly desirable since it greatly facilitates diagnosis, treatment, or the like.

The foregoing objects, advantages, features and results of the present invention, together with various other objects, advantages, features and results which will be evident to those skilled in the art in the light of this disclosure, may be achieved with the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing and described in detail hereinafter.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a pediatric restraining apparatus or device which embodies the invention, showing the device ready for use;

FIG. 2 is a view of the device in use to immobilize a patient;

and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken as indicated by the arrowed line 33 of FIG. 1 of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION Referring to the drawing, the pediatric restraining apparatus of the invention is designated generally therein by the numeral 10 and includes a support 12 adapted to accommodate a patient 14 lying on his back. The support 12 is provided with torso, head, arm and leg supporting portions or members I6, 18, 20 and 22, respectively, for supporting the torso 26, head 28, arms 30 and legs 32, respectively, of the patient 14. The support 12 preferably has a cruciform configuration so that the patient lies thereon, face up, with his arms outstretched and his legs extended. To provide a more rigid structure, the leg supporting members 22 are preferably interconnected at their pedal extremities, as indicated at 34. Carrying handles 36 are provided on the head supporting member 18 and the leg supporting members 22 so that the device 10 may be utilized as a stretcher to transport the patient 14.

The support 12 may be of any suitable construction which renders it relatively rigid and comfortable for the patient 14 to lie upon. With this in mind, the support 12 is provided with a rigid base 38 surmounted by padding 40, the latter being en closed by a cover 42 of a material which can be cleaned readily so that it can be maintained in an aseptic condition. Various materials may be used for the base 38, the padding 40 and the cover 42. Preferably, the various components of the device 10 are made of materials which are transparent to X-rays so that they will not interfere with X-ray photographs taken of various parts of the patients body.

The patient 14 is immobilized face up on the support 12 by torso, arm and leg securing means 46, 50 and 52', respectively.

The torso securing means 46 consists of strap means 56 for securing the patients torso 26 to the torso supporting member 16 at a point below the patients waist to help immobilize the patients hip joints.

The arm securing means 50 comprises two pairs of arm strap means 60 respectively connected to the arm supporting members 20, the arm strap means of each pair respectively en-.

Similarly, the leg securing means 52 comprises two pairs of leg strap means 62 respectively connected to the leg supporting members 22. The leg strap means 62 of each pair respectively engage the corresponding leg 32 at points above and below the knee joint and spaced therefrom.

Each of the strap means 56, 60 and 62 may comprise a single strap connected intermediate its ends to the corresponding supporting member, and adapted to encompass the corresponding supporting member and the corresponding part of the patients body. Alternatively, each of the strap means 56, 60 and 62 may comprise two straps having fixed ends secured to the corresponding supporting member of the support 12, and having free ends adapted to be overlapped and suitably secured together, as will be described hereinafter. FIG. 3 of the drawing shows an exemplary embodiment of one of the arm strap means 60, which construction may be applied to the other strap means 56 and 62. The arm strap means 60 shown in FIG. 3 is illustrated as including two arm straps 70 having fixed ends secured to the under side of the corresponding arm supporting member 20, as by staples 72. (If fastening devices such as staples 72 are employed, they are preferably located close to the edges of the arm supporting member 20 so that they will not interfere with X-raying the patients arm, if necessary.) The arm straps 70 have ends 74 capable of being overlapped over the corresponding portion of the corresponding arm 30, the strap ends 74 being secured together in any suitable manner. For example, the two strap ends 74 may constitute a Velcro tape fastener, one of the strap ends 74 being formed of Velcro pile tape and the other of Velcro hook tape. Alternatively, the entire straps 70 may be formed of Velcro pile tape and Velcro hook tape, respectively. As will be apparent, an important advantage of embodying a Velcro tape fastener in each of the strap means is that it can be fastened and unfastened quickly and easily, and the desired degree of restraining tension can be developed therein easily.

If desired, the various strap means may be made movable longitudinally of the corresponding supporting members of the device 10 to accommodate patients of different sizes. Thus, the device 10 may be used for the entire pediatric age group.

The arm strap means 60, being located above and below the patients elbows, prevent angulation of the elbow joints. Similarly, the leg strap means 62, being located above and below the patient's knees, prevent angulation of the knee joints. The uppermost leg strap means 62 are located below the patients hip joints and the torso strap means 56 is located above the patients hip joints, so that these strap means cooperate to prevent angulation of the hip joints in vertical planes. (A chest strap means, not shown, may be utilized to cooperate with the uppermost arm strap means 60 to prevent angulation of the shoulder joints. Normally, however, this is not necessary.)

Such prevention ofjoint angulation makes it impossible for the patient 14 to move his body to any significant extent since, as hereinbefore discussed, the degree of body lift attainable is directly proportional to the angulations of the various joints which can be achieved.

Although the patient 14 may attempt to struggle after being restrained by the device 10, he soon tends to recognize that further struggling is futile. The end effect is that the patient tends to relax, which is highly desirable whether the operation be performed on the patient is one of diagnosis or treatment. In either event, the desired operation can be performed easily and safely, with less danger of injury to the patient, failure of diagnostic techniques, or the like.

In most instances, the patient 14 can be strapped to the support 12 very quickly by just one person, thereby saving time and minimizing the need for assistance. In an emergency situation, the time saved with the device 10 is important and conceivably could mean the difference between life and death.

Although an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that various changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in such embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims appearing hereinafter.

Iclaim:

1. In a pediatric restraining apparatus, the combination of:

a. a support having torso, head, arm and leg supporting members for respectively supporting the torso, head, arms and legs of a pediatric patient;

b. means for securing the patients arms to said arm supporting members, respectively, on both sides of the patients elbows at points spaced from the elbows;

0. means for securing the patients legs to said leg supporting members, respectively, on both sides of the patients knees at points spaced from the knees; and

(I. said securing means comprising eight strap means for securing the patients arms and legs to said arm and leg supporting members, respectively, on opposite sides of the patients elbows and knees. respectively.

2. A pediatric restraining apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of said strap means is connected to the corresponding supporting member, and is provided with ends adapted to be overlapped and means for releasably securing said overlapped ends together.

3. In a pediatric restraining apparatus, the combination of:

a. a generally rigid, generally cruciform support having torso, head, arm and leg supporting members for respectively supporting the torso, head, arms and legs of a pediatric patient;

b. means for securing the patient's arms to said arm supporting members, respectively, on both sides of the patient's elbows at points spaced from the elbows; and

c. means for securing the patient's legs to said leg supporting members, respectively, on both sides of the patient's knees at points spaced from the knees.

4. A pediatric restraining apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including means for securing the patients torso to said torso supporting member in the vicinity of the patients waist.

5. A pediatric restraining apparatus according to claim I wherein said support includes a rigid base and padding on the upper side of said base.

6. A pediatric restraining apparatus as defined in claim I including carrying handles connected to said head and leg supporting members.

7. A pediatric restraining apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said leg supporting members are interconnected at their pedal extremities. 

